Feeling hopeless

Hi everyone. I’m new here. I’ve always been a believer in Christ but was what you would call a lukewarm Christian. I recently came across some videos of people whose spirits had left their bodies and visited hell and/or heaven. It was so frightening and ever since watching them and reading about similar stories I am filled with fear and anxiety and depression and hopelessness. I have been praying and asking God for forgiveness but I feel so beyond lost and confused. I’m so worried about everyone I know, not just myself. Ending up in hell is really not that hard. Entering heaven seems so difficult, almost impossible. Our churches certainly do not teach this enough. I now feel like every single thing I’m doing is wrong and will send me to hell, even things like putting makeup on or wearing a necklace. I desperately need some guidance. I feel so alone in all of this. I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. My brother whom I love so dearly is gay. My mother is catholic. I only believe in the bible, not into the denominations or traditions outside of the bible.
I have started reading the bible again, right from Genesis, but I’ve been advised to start from the New Testament.
Sorry for the long post. I don’t know what I’m doing.
Thanks everyone 💕

I just wanted to say "Hi", and welcome. You are NOT alone, and are absolutely turning the right direction. I do believe all this feeling "filled with fear and anxiety and depression and hopelessness", is you seeing the things of the flesh for what they are. This is absolutely when you need to give Jesus everything. You are not betraying your brother, or mother at all, He will use you as a testament of His power, you will be a living example of His power to change us to the world. It's amazing! You have to go to Him just like you are, and don't just pray asking for things, talk right to God and ask Him to use you, give Him your life, leaving nothing between God and you. Just go "all in", it took me losing what I thought was everything that made me what I was, before I hit my knees knowing I couldn't do this whole "life" thing my way anymore. You are right where you need to be, now go give it all to our King and know the peace that ONLY Jesus can gift. He is calling you to come to Him. Anyway I pray God draw you into Himself and that your "fear, anxiety, depression, and hopelessness" will be no more, Jesus is our courage, comfort, joy, and above all our HOPE. I truly hope you have a great day.

Well as a former catholic who's mother is still catholic i can understand your feelings on that issue..

But for myself and my personal situation i know as a Christian i am not saved because i succeed in avoiding sin or because i do some good deeds.. I am saved because i believe Jesus and trust that the Atonement Jesus secured on the cross pays the penalty for all my sins... We Christians don't make it into eternity with God.. We are saved by Jesus and He sees to it that we enter into eternity with God..

And yes i would very much advise you to start at the New Testament and then after finishing you can go back and read the Old Testament..

And you post was not too long.. I have seen some mega posts in my time and yours was no where near as long as them..

Oh and PS: while the eternal Lake of Fire is very real i would not trust in any account from anyone that they went there and came back... It is way to easy to fake that or even have a bad dream or a psychotic episode.. They may genuinly believe they went there, but that can be genuinely wrong..

The fact is your not alone....sitting at the feet of Jesus is the best place. Be still and know he is God.
Cast your burdens upon the Lord and he will sustain you, burdens are anxieties he knows all your troubles and cares.
Seek the peace he desires to give you. Learn to rest in him.

Hi Joanne and welcome!!

First, STOP watching those videos. Everything we look at, demonic forces can also look at, and watch us watching. The enemy knows your weaknesses and will use things like videos to take away your peace and joy in the Lord. Some of these videos are probably there for that very purpose.

Let's make sure you have the proper Gospel.
God became flesh in the form of his Son, Jesus the Christ. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin. He suffered, was crucified, and died to pay the debt we owe because of our sin. He was raised to life on the 3rd day according to the Scriptures.
If you confess with your mouth Jesus IS Lord, and believe in your heart that He was raised to life on the 3rd day, you WILL be saved.

That's it. That is the THE Gospel unto Salvation.

When that happens, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, who will sanctify us to walk as Jesus did. We still stumble. But don't let that stumble define you. Confess it to the Lord and move on. The enemy will try and use your stumble to give you a feeling of condemnation. THAT is NOT from the Lord.

The key is to always look outward to Him, and love toward others, and NOT inward at our sin, or condemning toward others.

Let your family and friends SEE Christ in you. Let them see joy and love, and NOT fear or condemning words. Make them desire what you have.

Holy Father, I pray You will give peace and joy, and all the fruits of the Holy Spirit to this woman. Let her feel, and see Your Presence in unmistakable ways. Let her be used for Your Glory in bringing her family and friends to the knowledge of Your Son, and draw them to Him. In Jesus sweet Name I pray.

Welcome, I pray that you will find good fellowship here.
I pray you will read and meditate on this verse... Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Thank you all for your replies. Reading them has helped me to start feeling a little better. I’m so caught up with what is sin and what is not that I can’t feel the love of Jesus, instead feeling the opposite. I did think maybe i am being attacked and deceived by the enemy but the more videos i watched and also read bible translations online the more I felt doomed. I need a lot of help to get on the right track. Thanks again and God bless you all 💕

I wish I could hold Christ in my hands and put His spirit onto your spirit.

I think you have lost sight of just who God is. The way to meet the real God who has a definite way of being is to understand His word. That isn't easy, because God uses people in scripture who thought and acted in a culture thousands of years old and culture changes. Can you imagine someone reading what we write thousands of years from now? We say don't cross that bridge until you come to it, or take the bull by the horns, or there is more than one way to skin a cat. Well, they had saying that in scripture we need to understand also. Like "an eye for an eye". Lots of people are trying to figure that one out, wondering if God tells us to take out eyes!

The Psalms give a complete picture of God, and is easy to understand. Just know that all they say about God is true and don't listen to anyone else. Any time you feel sin getting you down, just remember that Christ paid for any sin we commit, we must accept they are paid for, over and out. Join Christ in simply dying to sin, it is wiped out and need not be in your mind any longer, you are absolutely free. Just don't go there, and when you do just know that even Paul sinned no matter how much he didn't want to. Christ is loving and long suffering, just read Psalms and accept it. When God looks at you and sees what you are doing through Christ there is rejoicing in heaven over you. You are free.

The best Christian in the world would end up in hell if it were entirely up to their performance.

But we trust in Christ and His Performance to get us to be with Him in His Kingdom.

I thought for awhile that I was a vessel that was made for destruction because I couldn't be perfect before the Lord. I found out later that that was the whole point. No one can be perfect before the Lord. The Lord is the One who makes us Whole and Perfect before Him.

It is absolutely impossible to enter Heaven. It will take a miracle. And the Lord will provide it... As long as you have faith in Him.

I think it is best not to watch those videos if they will get you feeling down on yourself or anxious and fearful. Put some more encouraging stuff on instead. Sometimes if I sit quietly and think about God and Scripture it has helped me feel calmer. Tonight I was thinking of God being my Shepherd, a rock, refuge, and I was thinking of verses such as blessed is the man that trusts in him and I really could feel my body relaxing. Give it a try. Worrying does not help matters. Worry is a heavy burden but Jesus yoke is easy. He does not want his children to be weighed down by worry or fears.

Jesus said to the lawyers in Luke 11:46:" And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers"

I find hope in this verse knowing Jesus does not want me to be carrying around a heavy weight of worrying. Sometimes in placing rules on yourself you can become burdened because the rules are too much. Sometimes rules people place on themselves are too complicated or detailed to really be plausible to follow on. The important things are to love God with all our being and love our neighbor as ourselves. Sometimes in focusing on the details of law we could pass over the more important matters such as loving God and loving others.

Salvation is a one off experience with present continuing results from a past completed action <---Perfect Tense Greek verb....was saved, am saved, contiuing to be saved based upon the past completed action of faith.....also...for a believer-->where sin abounds, grace abounds the more....we cannot lose salvation...after salvation God deals with us as children and chastens us, but does not cast us away.....also....the entire law has been reduced to two...Love God and Love each other....there is not a devil behind every bush and sin is defined by the word.....for example....Having a drink or two is not sin, unless it causes a weaker brother to stumble and or leads to being drunk.....We may gain or lose rewards for what we do and or say but not salvation...a child by birth will always be a child by birth...reward comes from the Greek word misthos and = pay or wages for service rendered

I can’t even begin to explain how much all of your replies and words are helping me. Thank you so much. Sending my love to all of you 💕

You are right we are doomed because of who we are.
I read a book years ago which was a meditation on the suffering Christ took for us.
When you begin to realise how much love, support, desire Jesus had to die for us, and start to thank
God from your heart for this, faith will come my friend.

Jesus said the way of love is the way to life, through Him.
The more we know Him and His victory.
Our emotions rage like a storm but it is in Praise and worship of Him that we find liberation.

So start to praise, start to bring all you know to the King and lay it before Him.
He will make His presence known to you, God bless you

Coming to salvation is a process that includes having our imperfect natures being made clear to us.. This acts to knock any arrogance or pride out of us we come to see how faulty we are and yes it is an uncomfortable experience filled with regrets as the holy Spirit brings to our minds memories of our past deeds and words.. It is very humbling.. But then the Way of Salvation is opened to us and the Loving forgiveness of the LORD is presented and we are filled with appreciation for what God went through to Redeem us from our hopeless situation.. That's when we feel the joy and peace of mind that comes by knowing Jesus..

No Jesus. No peace.

Know Jesus, Know Peace.

So I’ve stopped reading the Old Testament and now half way through Matthew. Can’t say that I’m not freaking out a bit, feels like every word is condemning me.

Well then that means you need the Love of Jesus even more then most

Well a portion of Gospel that you should understand and take hope from..

Luke 7: KJV
36 "¶ And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. {37} And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, {38} And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. {39} Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. {40} And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. {41} There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. {42} And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? {43} Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. {44} And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. {45} Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. {46} My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. {47} Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. {48} And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. {49} And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? {50} And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."